Battlefords Sharks reflect on the most successful year in franchise history

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Horbach also said he thinks it was the best they played all season.

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“There were some things that didn’t go our way that I think took away a little bit of an opportunity for us,” he said. “In the end, extremely proud of what the kids did. They’ve got nothing to be ashamed of, only pride. I know they made a lot of people proud – family, friends, and everybody back in Battleford.” 

Moving on to next season, the team knows they can accomplish a lot, and heading to the national championship feels realistic after being so close this season.

“I think it just makes it real. It’s not a pipe dream,” said Horbach. “It used to be a thing where we’ve maybe won the league before. Before that it was like, we had never finished first, and all of a sudden, we just kind of stacked up these things.” 

Out of the eight players aging out for the Sharks, seven of them are moving on to play hockey at the post-secondary level:

• Danika Dureau – Merrimack College. North Andover, MA – NCAA D1  

• Anneka Aspaas – Rochester Institute of Technology. Rochester, NY – NCAA D1 

• Savannah Mucha – University of Maine. Orono, ME – NCAA D1 

• Ayden Kehrig – Mount Royal University. Calgary, AB – USports 

• Sarah McNabb – University of Alberta. Edmonton, AB – USports 

• Maggie Rauckman – University of British Columbia. Vancouver, BC – USports 

• Sophie Brecht – University of British Columbia. Vancouver, BC – USports 

“I hope they take away the fact of, just kind of trust the process and also the fact that when you’re part of an incredible environment and culture, you can have success,” Horbach said. “I think it’s a template of how a team can achieve success with good kids and good families and just doing all the little things right over the course of a season and a career wherever they are.” 

The graduates also helped out the younger players a lot throughout the season and helped set them up well heading into the next season. 

“Whether it was the fact of just being away from home, dealing with being that student athlete with a full schedule…then just the expectations of doing the work on the ice and doing the extra stuff, it’s tough not to be proud when you walk into the room, even on a bit of an off day. You’ve got kids at the rink shooting pucks or just doing stuff on their own just to try to be better,” said Horbach. 

The Sharks will have their spring camp and year end banquet in the coming weeks as they wrap up the 2025-26 season and turn their focus towards the next campaign when they start the journey towards their second consecutive Fedoruk Cup. 

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Ryan.Lambert@pattisonmedia.com